Monday, 24 August 2015

Japan Candy Box Review and Giveaway!

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Heyya Littlest Sweet Shoppers

My husband calls me the 'Munchies Expert' so I guess it is my duty to make another subscription food box review. I will be checking out items from this month's Japan Candy Box and we will be giving away 1 Japan Candy Box to a lucky winner!

Japan Candy Box - bringing Japanese sweets to your front door!

When you subscribe to Japan Candy Box, you will receive a box filled with carefully selected mix (8 - 10) of quirky Japanese sweets & snacks. It cost only $18.20 a month to subscribe from absolutely anywhere on the planet.

You will always get a set of different sweets each month so it is a pleasant surprise every time. Early this month my box arrived on the first week and included 10 of the cutest sweets I've ever seen! Here is a breakdown of the items:

1. Kabaya Pokemon Pikachu Pretzel sticks

This is a small pack of long crispy pretzel sticks which is coated with what I assume is a cookies and cream flavour. The flavour and sweetness is subtle and the biscuit itself tasted bland. Pure novelty for the kawaii picture of Pikachu on the box.2. Lotte Koala March Biscuits

These had a crispier and lighter biscuit compared to the Panda biscuits that I usually get. Each piece has a clear picture of a Koala in different costumes/activities. The chocolate itself was not too sweet (which I love about Japanese food!) and I wish the pack was bigger! They even stayed crispy after a week being in an unopened pack!

3. Pucho Mixed Fruit Chewy Candy

In the west we call this type of sweet 'taffy' like Fruitella. This Puccho has drops of assorted fruit candy in the taffy itself. This made it a bit confusing when you try to guess what flavour you are tasting. Taffy is one of my favourite type of sweets and this particular Puccho delivers a unique flavour.

4. Meiji Petit Grape Bubblegum

I can never disagree with Meiji. Everything they make taste so darn good! You can have a handful or tiny amounts of this bubblegum at a time. It is so soft that you will find yourself chewing it for a long time (and blowing bubbles of course). The grape flavour is spot on and the outer layer is a crunchy candy. The pack was generous so you can share it with people you like ;)

5. Mini Dorayaki

This is the popular Japanese pancake that Doraemon would kill for! I love the mini size since the original size of a Dorayaki is much bigger (and they are quite filling!). Inside is a generous layer of red bean paste and the pancake itself is soft and light. I read Doraemon manga when I was a child and I've always been curious about these small pancakes that drove the robot cat mad. Today it is no longer a mystery.

6. Marukawa Fusen Bubble Gum

This tiny pack contains 4 gumballs. They are absolutely delicious! I am guessing that it is yogurt flavour and Japanese sweets do it just right. At first I thought it was Ramune (also another favourite candy flavour!) but as I chewed on I noticed the distinct yogurt flavour coming through.

7. Meiji Marble Chocolate

Surprisingly similar flavour to Smarties with a softer colour scheme. The portion is small since this is a mini sized box. I'm keeping the box since it's so cute!

8. Popin' Cookin' Neri Candyland DIY Kit

I ended up spending hours making kawaii artisanal sweets using this kit! I've always been curious about the Kracie brand Popin' Cookin' products since I love playing with my food :p

This is my first experience and it is basically 5 packs of sugar paste that you can mould and sculpt just like clay! I would suggest that you do this on a cold day since the 'clay' can melt easily on warm hands and become really sticky and tricky to play with. I attempted to make some sculptures from the pictures on the box just to see how possible and achievable it was. Since I couldn't use my own clay tools (never mix polymer clay tools with food), I sculpted everything myself and some using the template that came with it. The sprinkles are included as well, how cool is that?

This is all that I managed to make since some of the 'clay' went straight into my mouth before it could even be moulded into anything! It taste surprisingly good since at first I thought it was just sickly sweet marzipan like the ones the use as cake decoration. Each 'clay' colour has a different flavour. So when you mix them to create colours, you are creating a new flavour as well. I really liked the white 'clay' since it tasted like yogurt and the blue 'clay' tasted like bubblegum. Overall I was not disappointed with this product even though my first impression was that it was purely novelty. The 'clay' was also light, a bit like a marshmallow version of taffy. I would recommend it as decoration on your cupcakes or cookies since it is not too sweet to be overpowering.

9 & 10. Kabaya Fish gummies and Yaokin Sour Paper Candy

These are both basically gummy candies. The reason why there is no photo of the fish gummies is because they were so good that my husband managed to eat all of it in one go! It isn't a small pack but each gummy was irresistible, especially the orange 'adult' fish. I couldn't guess the other flavours of the gummies but it was quite refreshing to taste something so unique.
I've reviewed the same sour paper before. It's not really paper thin but a long shape that you can scoff in one go. It's also coated in sugar and it is actually not too sour despite the name.

But, what if I want more!?

If you really like a specific item from the box and would like to buy more, just visit Blippo.com where you can sample even more Japanese sweets and snacks. Here are some sweets from the store:

Puccho Chewy Candy - Pink Grapefruit

Grapefruit taffy is definitely a rare one. It's also infused with yogurt flavour and real fruit juices! Puccho is also a very soft type of taffy so you won't break your teeth! It's not as sour as eating a real grapefruit so you can enjoy the delicious flavour without the tartness.

Morinaga Hi-Chew Candy - Green Apple flavour

I always expect green apple flavour to be so sour. However this taffy was pleasantly sweet and not sour at all. Usually I try to avoid anything with green apple flavour so this one totally changed my mind.